


there's bones in my closet (but you hang stuff anyway)

by noirheart (Flumes)



Series: your mojo witchcraft (honey it's working on me) [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Jaehyun and Johnny are supernatural hunters, M/M, PDS (pretty damn soft or pretty damn sappy: you decide), Taeil is a mage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-08-01 04:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16277507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flumes/pseuds/noirheart
Summary: Jaehyun flips over his palms. The skin is raw and pink and blistered, painful to the touch. He looks up over the lines of his fingers to see the charcoal marks and steam and finds the cacophony in his head settles into a distant alarm bell. It can’t be possible. It shouldn’t be. He’s twenty one; it’s completely unheard of to discover a magical affinity this late in his youth. There’s no history of it in his family – and he’d absolutely know. It just can’t be right.Jaehyun shakes his head. “No. Not me. I can’t be a – whatever this is.”Johnny looks down at the goblin husk. “Well, you sure cooked him well. Maybe we can use your skills for barbecue instead.”





	there's bones in my closet (but you hang stuff anyway)

**Author's Note:**

> I know no one cares about this ship apart from me but ever since I saw that gorgeous video message Jaehyun left for Taeil, who started bawling his eyes out, I've never been able to get over them. So I had to contribute /something/ for them, if no one else was going to.
> 
> This kind of started with the idea of Jaehyun and Johnny being hunters like the Winchesters (even though I kind of hate Supernatural, lol). There maaaaay be a part two with Johnny but don't hold me to it because my schedule sucks.

 

“I just don’t know what to do, hyung.”

 

Ever stalwart and steadfast, Johnny rubs him on the back as he sits beside Jaehyun, whose eyes remain on his hands. “I know it seems that way right now but it’s not the end of the world. I promise.”

 

Jaehyun is afraid. He keeps waiting for the flame to spark from his fingertips but it just doesn’t come no matter how long he stares at the same hands he’s always known, long fingers callused from handling all manner of weapons. Magic isn’t something he understands. It isn’t something he wants to understand. In his years hunting with Johnny he’s seen far too much horror and misery caused by it that he can never see magic as anything but evil.

 

Johnny leans back on his elbows, face raised to the wind streaming in from the window. “It’s not all bad, you know? I know a mage who might be able to help you. He’s prone to taking in strays like you.”

 

Jaehyun turns sharply to squint at him but with Johnny’s cheeky grin he doesn’t last long, a smile breaking across his face as he huffs a laugh. He doesn’t want to live in fear of this for the rest of his life. As much as he doesn’t want to even think about it, there’s never been a problem Jaehyun hasn’t tackled head on.

 

“You know a mage?”

 

“Jaehyun, how do you think I get our stuff charmed?”

 

He scratches his head. “I tried not to think about it.”

 

Johnny rolls his eyes. “Let me pay a visit to Taeyong. I’m sure he’ll be willing to help you. He’s a great guy, I promise. I’ve known him since high school.”

 

Jaehyun trusts Johnny’s word implicitly. If he says Taeyong is alright, Taeyong is alright. With a nod he gives in.

 

“I’ll be right back,” Johnny says, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder as he sweeps by with his phone to his ear.

 

Jaehyun stays where he is, hands on his knees on the ratty couch of their shared apartment, wondering what this means for them. What it means for him.

 

*

 

It starts on a perfectly ordinary morning. There’s the familiar click-click-click of Johnny at the table loading his various guns and packing them into his black weapons bag. Jaehyun is scrolling through comments on a message forum, trying to find commonalities in the sightings so they’re not walking into a goblin’s lair completely unprepared – and he’s been there, it’s not pretty. The kettle whistles and bubbles, the lack of smell telling him that mercifully it’s hot water for the coffee and not one of Johnny’s weird concoctions. Jaehyun’s glad they’ll have coffee for the road.

 

“What you thinking?” says Johnny, slinging his bag over his shoulder like he’s a model and not a grimy monster hunter.

 

Maybe there’s another world where they’re not scraping together to make ends meet, instant ramen noodles and instant coffee and no sleep schedule because monsters don’t keep to a circadian rhythm. But even with the exhaustion and the constant worries, Jaehyun wouldn’t swap the thrill for anything, just two brothers hitting the road. Saving people is a high like no other and Jaehyun would give all of himself to keep the rest of Seoul safe from the hidden underground of the city.

 

“It’s hiding underground and preying on late night subway goers by the sounds of it. Not a bad idea on some of the quieter lines.”

 

Johnny nods. “Let’s go.”

 

The two of them leave the beat up car behind and head for the subway, switching from one line to another until they get to where the creature has been spotted the most. A few passengers glance curiously at them when Johnny’s bag clangs and Jaehyun hopes they don’t get caught – between them there’s enough weapons to get them locked up for a long time – but ultimately no one cares. Public transport is weirdly supernatural resistant. Eyes ahead, earphones in. Don’t look, don’t listen, don’t pay attention. It’s better that way until it comes to human-eating monsters devouring unwitting passengers.

 

“This stop seems to have the most disappearances,” says Jaehyun, pointing to a stop on the line. It takes them out of the very heart of the city, into an even less affluent district than they live in, but every bit as populated. At this time of night the subway car is near dead, giving them enough privacy to come up with a game plan without sounding deranged, the only other passengers an older man in three layers of coats, and a younger girl in heavy make up and ripped jeans. Neither spare a glance as they exit at the next stop, into the dim, flickering light of the underground station, little more than a strip of platform with stairs at the end.

 

“Should we wait or should we lure it out, do you think?” said Johnny, after they examine the platform and find no signs of significance.

 

Jaehyun fixes him with a grin and Johnny snorts, expression mirroring his. Digging into his bag, he brings out a jar of some kind of gloopy green liquid that shines when he holds it up to the light. “I thought you might say that. This should attract its attention.” The next thing Jaehyun knows he’s lobbing it at the wall, where the glass explodes out with a booming crash that shakes the entire platform, dust falling from the ceiling. Jaehyun stumbles but manages to catch his footing.

 

The first thing he notices is the smell. It’s an awful, pungent stench that masks the stale scent of the underground, like rotten eggs and musk. Pinching his nose, he moves closer to Johnny, who’s cocking his head and then becking him over to his side of the platform. The next thing he notices is the scratching sound echoing in the yawning space of the station, sounding like it’s coming from inside the walls. Jaehyun gestures to Johnny to pass him a weapon from his bag but he’s too preoccupied with locating the source of the noise. On the hunt, Johnny tends to get all consumed and forgets the world around him. It’s why he doesn’t notice what Jaehyun does, and why he’s not prepared for the shadow sneaking up on him.

 

“Johnny!” Jaehyun doesn’t think, he just reacts. He has nothing in his hands – no gun, no knife, no potion to throw at the ugly little horned creature sliding down the wall from the ceiling. Of course, they assumed it would be _below,_ but they’re already underground. How could they know it would be hiding in the ceiling and preying from above?

 

There’s a blast of fire, heat wafting in his face, and then suddenly he’s so exhausted he might collapse, breathing hard as if he’s just ran a mile. When he looks up Johnny is fine, if stunned, his dark eyes so wide the whites of his eyes shine. A black scorch mark stains the wall and on the ground a burnt husk sizzles, smoke wafting from the corpse. Jaehyun doesn’t understand why he’s suddenly struggling to walk. At first he thinks the creature has landed a hit on him but it doesn’t explain the way it lies there, barbecued black.

 

“Jae,” breathes Johnny, “Did you just…?”

 

“Did I what?”

 

“Your hands.”

 

Jaehyun flips over his palms. The skin is raw and pink and blistered, painful to the touch. He looks up over the lines of his fingers to see the charcoal marks and steam and finds the cacophony in his head settles into a distant alarm bell. It can’t be possible. It shouldn’t be. He’s twenty one; it’s completely unheard of to discover a magical affinity this late in his youth. There’s no history of it in his family – and he’d absolutely know. It just can’t be right.

 

He meets Johnny’s hesitant expression and crumples. “Hyung. Tell me I’m going mad.”

 

“Hey, it’s not a bad thing. Unexpected, but something we can work out.”

 

Jaehyun shakes his head. “No. Not me. I can’t be a – whatever this is.”

 

Johnny looks down at the goblin husk. “Well, you sure cooked him well. Maybe we can use your skills for barbecue instead.”

 

Jaehyun fixes him with a glare but Johnny’s earnest expression wears him down and he snorts. “You promise you’ll help me get rid of this?”

 

Johnny bites his lip but he nods. “I promise.”

 

*

 

Taeyong’s house is a ruckus of noise and laughter. Jaehyun takes his first step into the hall and already two boys are running past him, cutting off his next step without even looking back at him. They shove into one another, and then a splash of water suddenly comes from nowhere, dunking them both until their hair is plastered to their foreheads, their shirts sodden and dripping.

 

“Jeno!” one of them exclaims and they both go bounding out of view.

 

Jaehyun looks at Johnny who simply shrugs. “Taeyong’s always rounding up strays. Bit of a natural caretaker.”

 

From the way Johnny has described Taeyong up until now, Jaehyun is kind of expecting an older man, maybe even elderly, with laughter lines on a kind face and hideous knitted cardigans. A bit eccentric, maybe. The kind of man that even a supernaturally unaware person might think is a little odd and grows herbs in their garden and wanders places late at night when they should be tucked up safe in bed.

 

Trying to reconcile what he expects with what he gets is so startling he spends a solid twenty seconds of staring at Taeyong before he works up the mental capacity to greet him, elbowing Johnny in the ribs when he feels his smirk directed at him. Forget anything he ever said, Johnny is officially The Worst and he’s moving out. Leave him to sort out rent by himself.

 

Because Taeyong isn’t elderly or eccentric looking. In fact, Jaehyun would say he belongs on the front of a glossy magazine, or sauntering down a catwalk, because he has an absolutely striking face, all magnificent angles and big dark eyes that seem to stare into his soul. The starkness of his face is softened by baby pink hair and an oversized sweatshirt in almost the same colour, draping off an elegant frame. He looks a little tired, eyes smudgy and dark, but he wears it so well it’s almost a look for him. Jaehyun envies him.

 

“Nice to see you, Johnny,” he says, exchanging a hug with his friend. He turns to Jaehyun. “It’s nice to meet you. Johnny talks about you a lot.”

 

“All good, I hope.”

 

Taeyong nods solemnly. “So what can I do for you boys?”

 

Johnny looks at him but he feels his mouth dry up and when it becomes clear he isn’t going to speak he says, “Jaehyun has discovered a knack for the talent. We were hoping you would be able to walk him through managing it, since we don’t know much ourselves.”

 

Just as Taeyong is about to speak, another boy comes running into the room, a sparkling ball of light cupped between his palms that illuminates rosy cheeks and shining eyes. “Look, hyung! Look at this!”

 

Taeyong smiles. “Good job, Jisung. You’re getting better at this.” When the boy leaves he turns back to them. “As you can see I’m a little run off my feet. I’d be happy to take you, Jaehyun, but honestly you might feel a little out place with all these kids running around.”

 

Jaehyun will admit that he’d been thinking the same thing, apprehensive about taking classes with boys years younger than him. He’s apprehensive about the whole thing, palms digging into the fabric of his jeans. He doesn’t know what this will mean for him and he doesn’t know if he really wants to learn magic at all. But it’s better than losing control. He might have been lucky back in the metro station but that so easily could have been Johnny lying on the ground, burnt beyond recognition. Gulping, he squeezes his eyes shut. As much as he doesn’t want to do it, he needs Taeyong to teach him. Already he feels comforted by his presence. He’s the right type of person to make him feel better about this whole thing.

 

“I think it might be better if I recommend a friend of mine to help you. His name is Taeil and he only has one other student, around the same age as you.”

 

Jaehyun blinks, ready to protest. He doesn’t want to be pawned off on some other guy, not when this thing has him so stressed. But then Johnny straightens up in surprise.

 

“Oh, Taeil. Man, I never even thought of him.” He nudges Jaehyun. “Taeil’s great. You’ll like him.” There’s such a soft smile on Johnny’s face he knows there’s a history there he can’t even hope to argue with.

 

Under Johnny’s imploring gaze, Jaehyun can do nothing but accept his fate and agree to meet Taeil.

 

*

 

Taeil lives in an apartment near the university he teaches at. It’s on the top floor of his block and Jaehyun knocks the door multiple times, shifting his weight awkwardly as his nerves build and build. Frustrated with the lack of answer, he’s just about to bang the door again when the door flies open and he’s greeted with a young man. His big eyes bore into Jaehyun, brows raised with an unimpressed look. “Calm down, will you? No need to knock the door down.”

 

“Taeil?” he asks, not caring that the man is older with the way irritation is prickling under his skin.

 

The man snorts. “Doyoung. Taeil is like, down here,” he says, gesturing to his chest. “I’m guessing you’re Johnny’s guy, yeah? Come on in.”

 

Jaehyun steps into a small but clean apartment, simple wooden floors and open plan design with the living room and kitchen in the same space. The window ledges are all decorated with plants of various shapes and sizes, some spilling over from their pots towards the floor, colourful flowers blooming prettily. It smells nice. Natural, like he’s not in the midst of Seoul’s sprawling metropolis but in the midst of a jungle.

 

“Taeil is on the roof if you want to go and say hello,” says Doyoung, pottering to the kettle. “Do you want tea?”

 

“Uh, I’m alright,” he says. Jaehyun generally considers himself a pretty chilled out guy, but with all the emotional turmoil he just doesn’t know what to make of anything. Mages. They’re all weird as far as he’s concerned. Except now he’s one of them. Kind of.

 

There’s a winding staircase at the end of the room that takes him up to a door. Pushing through, he finds himself greeted with a brisk wind from being up high. He’s in a small square of space on the roof, the place crawling with plants everywhere. Here it smells even sweeter, dewy from the previous night’s rain, and the colours pop against a grey sky. With his back turned to him is a short man, watering some of the flowers winding up the iron railing.

 

Jaehyun clears his throat. “Um, Taeil?”

 

The man whirls around, eyes round and surprised. He settles, a smile blossoming on a face like that of a living Disney character. “Good afternoon!” he says. “I’m Taeil. You must be Jaehyun.”

 

“That’s me.” He stands awkwardly with the wind tugging at his hair.

 

Taeil sets down the watering can and dusts of his hands. “Come on, let’s get inside. It’s a bit chilly out here.” Doyoung hadn’t been lying – Taeil is pretty short compared to Jaehyun and he tries not to be too obvious about looking down in case he offends his fragile mage ego.

 

“Please, sit down,” Taeil says, gesturing to the sofa opposite his armchair. Doyoung seems to have disappeared but the scent of peppermint still lingers in the air. “Tell me about yourself. Johnny mentioned some things but I think it’s better if we get to know one another first.”

 

Jaehyun nods. It’s not like he’s a particularly private person but he feels too scrutinised under a stranger’s stare and he wrings his hands as he thinks. Taeil, to his credit, waits patiently. When he finally speaks, his voice is a little hoarse. “I don’t really know what I’m doing here, to be honest. The whole thing was – is a surprise. I don’t understand how it all works but I don’t want to – don’t want to hurt anyone, you know? I’d never forgive myself if Johnny or someone else got hurt in the crossfire just because I was too petulant to learn.”

 

Taeil takes this in, nods. “That’s a good attitude. I know it’s not always easy. Plenty of kids are ecstatic to find out they have the talent but it’s such a big thing. They don’t always realise what they’re getting themselves in for. We’ll start off small and work our way up to whatever level you’re comfortable with.”

 

Jaehyun rubs the back of his neck. “Thanks for this. I appreciate it. If there’s any way I can repay you...”

 

Taeil raises his palms. “I owe Johnny enough by now that this one’s on the house. Don’t worry about it.” He bounds off the couch, sleeves of his sweater hitting his fingertips. Coming back with a small potted flower, he holds it out to Jaehyun, who takes it with visible confusion.

 

“Concentrate on how it feels in your hands. See if you can encourage it to grow.”

 

Jaehyun’s eyes must pop out of his skull because Taeil laughs, eyes crinkling. “But I make fire. I’ll destroy it.”

 

Taeil shakes his head. “It’s about control. If you’re so worried try and make some light. Close your eyes,” he says, “feel the life in your hands.”

 

As stupid as he feels, he tries as Taeil says, cupping the plant and focusing on his it feels. Try as he might, he can’t tell what it is Taeil wants him to feel. Maybe his fire was just a fluke and he doesn’t need to worry about this at all. He’s just about to tell Taeil this when he feels something, a flicker of warmth tingling in his palm. He can’t explain it. It’s just a brief sensation, so faint he thinks he might have imagined it.

 

But Taeil is smiling, nodding encouragingly. “Hold onto that. Draw it out if you can.”

 

Heart thumping, Jaehyun takes a hand off the plant to inspect it. He can’t see anything out of the ordinary but the feeling is growing into a warmth in his chest. It’s so strange it makes him panic, palms sweating. Suddenly it’s too hot and he’s burning up, sweat beading on his forehead. When he tries to fan himself flames shoots from the curve of his palm and he yelps, dropping the plant to the floor. The pot smashes, the steaming, withered husk of a plant spilling from the soil.

 

He can’t look at Taeil. “I’m sorry, it was an accident.”

 

“Jaehyun,” Taeil says, waiting until he finally meets the man’s gentle gaze, “it’s fine. Seriously. Broom’s in the cupboard over there. Sweep it up and we’ll call it a day, I think. It’s been a lot for you to take in.”

 

Jaehyun gets the broom, just relieved he didn’t set the place on fire and moves to clean it up. It’s at that moment that Doyoung enters from one of the other rooms, stopping short. There’s a comical moment where his eyes swivel from Jaehyun to the mess in the living room and then he folds over in a fit of laughter.

 

Jaehyun sighs. Clearly he’s going to be no magical maestro.

 

*

 

“How’s it going with Taeil?” Johnny asks on their next hunt. They’re both a little apprehensive after what happened but Jaehyun isn’t going to leave him to hunt a kumiho on his own. The last time he got sick Johnny let himself fall under one’s trap and nearly got himself eaten under a fool moon.

 

“It’s fine,” he says.

 

Johnny stops and looks him in the eye. “Jae, buddy, it’s obviously not fine.”

 

“I just don’t know how to control it, hyung. I don’t know if I want to. I just wish it would go away and we could go back to doing what we always do. I mean, doesn’t it kind of make me –”

 

“No, it doesn’t make you like the things we hunt. Do you think Taeyong is evil? Or Taeil?”

 

Jaehyun doesn’t speak, shuffling from his crouched position amidst thorny shrubbery. His legs are cramping but he’s not going to say anything. He can’t find the words anyway.

 

“Magic isn’t all evil,” Johnny says gently. “Like everything else there’s good and bad. It’s all about the wielder and you know I believe in you.”

 

Jaehyun turns to see Johnny’s profile outlined in silver moonlight as he stares into the field in front of them with a hunter’s concentration. He’s smiling before he can stop himself, a pleasant warmth bubbling in his chest.

 

“Also, you should quit whining. I’d love to have some magic.” He sighs into the night, picking up his rifle to peer through the scope. “Keep at it. You can trust Taeil.”

 

Jaehyun nods, chewing his lip. It’s not Taeil he doesn’t trust. It’s himself, clumsy and unsure in a way he’s never been before. All he can remember is the aftermath of such dark magic, so corrupt he had felt it in the air. It was a sign all alone, he thinks, that he should have known. The acrid taste of it had lingered on his tongue for days afterwards. He’s always had a sense for things, the way he does now, his hairs standing on end.

 

Patting his shoulder to get Johnny’s attention, he whispers, “She’s coming.”

 

“How did you –”

 

Sure enough, a small fox enters the clearing, silver in the moonlight. Johnny looks at him and they share a look. Time to go. They need to catch her before she lures any more innocents to their death. All worries strip away as Jaehyun loses himself in the hunt.

 

*

 

“The trick is not to panic. I think because you’re still afraid, that’s why you’re having such trouble with control.”

 

Jaehyun eyes Taeil warily, staring at the burnt cinders of five plants he has already barbequed. “I don’t know. I’m not like you.” He’s scared. Scared of himself. Of what he might turn into.

 

“What do you mean?” Taeil rocks back in his seat, frustratingly calm. He’s almost like a shrink, only Jaehyun finds he doesn’t feel uncomfortable around him.

 

“You’re good. You heal things. I just destroy.”

 

Taeil grabs his hands and he can’t help but look up, into warm eyes. “That’s not true at all. We’re both elemental mages. We use the natural elements to channel the power inside us. Yes, fire can be destructive, but it can also give the vital heat for life.” He presses Jaehyun’s hand to a potted plant and he feels the tingling of power from the point where skin meets skin. Taeil channels his magic through him and it takes all his strength not to jerk his hand away, disturbed by the strange sensation rushing through him.

 

Suddenly the shrivelled plant unfurls, a green shoot springing up from the blackened skin. Jaehyun stares, mouth dropping open.

 

“And I can just as easily take the life that was given.”

 

With a click of his fingers, the plant dies before his eyes, turning from green, to brown, then to black. The glint in his eye makes Jaehyun smile without meaning to. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Jaehyun. It’s all up here, hm?” He taps his head and gets up. “Time for a break, I think.”

 

As he potters off to the kitchen Jaehyun stares at his palm, the ghost of magic still tingling beneath his skin. He’s not cursed. He’s not destined for evil. He can do good, he just needs to learn how. Gazing up at Taeil as he hums, swaying from side to side while opening various kitchen cupboards, he thinks he has a good teacher to help him get there.

 

*

 

In the following days and weeks Jaehyun continues to show up at Taeil’s to take lessons from him on the craft. Sometimes Doyoung is there, mostly, it seems, to make fun of his struggles with a funny little smirk. But he settles into the routine, wandering over to Taeil’s apartment between hunts and shifts at the bar he works in to make rent. Taeil proves patient despite him frequently burning his plants to ash and on one particularly embarrassing occasion, his shirt. It feels like he takes one step forwards only to take two steps backwards but at least he’s trying. That’s what he tells himself, anyway.

 

“How are you finding it so far?” Taeil asks one afternoon after a frustrating lesson of trying to light individual candles. Jaehyun failed miserably, making them blaze all at once. He’s getting tired of nearly setting everything on fire.

 

He scratches his chin. “It’s, uh, going well. Yeah.”

 

Taeil looks at him over the mug of tea clutched between his hands and snorts. The peppermint is fragrant, pleasant when interwoven with the smell of herbs and plants. “It’s okay, you know. It might not feel like it but you are making progress.”

 

“I don’t know, hyung. I don’t think I’m ever going to be a proper mage or anything.”

 

“There’s no such thing as ‘proper mage’,” says Taeil. “You either practice magic or you don’t. And like all practice, you get better the more you do it. It’s like singing. Some people are born with talent but the more you practice and refine your technique, the better you get.”

 

“You sing?”

 

A secretive smile spreads across his lips. “Now and then.”

 

“Aw, come on. You can’t leave me hanging like that. Let me hear. _Please._ ” Jaehyun’s not above whining to get what he wants, pouting a little. He knows how to be charming and he’ll happily use it.

 

Taeil snorts behind his hand, suddenly bashful. “Really, it’s not worth all that. But there is magic in music, you know. There’s magic in anything that you create.”

 

“Show me, then.”

 

He crosses his arms and refuses to budge from the little makeshift kitchen. Taeil sighs and sags against the counter, placing down his steaming mug. “Alright, alright. What should I sing?”

 

Deciding to humour him, Jaehyun begins to hum the tune to a popular song that’s always playing on the radio right now, some catchy idol tune. Taeil’s eyes flick up to his in surprise and he finds himself grinning. Jaehyun’s not shy; he knows he has a good voice. Softly, he sings the first line and his grin blooms like a flower in the sun when Taeil joins him, tentatively at first but then growing in volume. And what a voice Taeil has, strong and smooth and seductive. He finds his stride, belting out a high note that echoes through his apartment, and Jaehyun’s brows rise in appreciation.

 

Their voices weave together as they hit the bridge and then Jaehyun can feel it; the bubbling euphoria of creation inside him. All of a sudden it becomes a physical force, shimmering between them in a rainbow of colours, like light split perfectly through a prism even though they’re inside. Wide eyed, his voice crashes into a whisper, allowing Taeil’s beautiful voice to take over and finish the song. He hums out the last few notes with a soft smile on his face, eyes distant as if imagining himself somewhere else. Jaehyun might be too, taken with the rainbow they’ve created in the middle of the kitchen. He reaches out and scatters the colours like mist, blue bleeding into green, into yellow and orange.

 

“I think maybe I’ve been doing it wrong with you,” Taeil says finally, after a long round of silence. “I’ve been approaching it like you’re one of my students but I forget you don’t have a magical background.”

 

Jaehyun is still struggling for words, warm and tingly all over. He shakes his head. “You’re doing fine.”

 

Taeil checks his watch, “Speaking of, I have a class I need to get to. I’ll see you next time?”

 

Jaehyun watches him slip on a jacket and leave, still reeling from the feeling. He lifts his palms to his face in wonder. Magic. He performed magic without destroying anything. He created. It feels wonderful and scary and exciting all at once and he feels a little lost, unsure of himself. For a while he potters about Taeil’s apartment before he gets a call from Johnny for a job.

 

It’s nice, to not feel dread when Johnny asks him how it’s going. To say, for once, that he’s starting to see a light at the end of this dark tunnel.

 

*

 

Jaehyun discovers the supernatural at an age younger than most, when a gae dokkaebi traps his parents in the house and sets it on fire. That night he’s staying with his grandma and it saves his life. Unfortunately his parents do not make it and a five year old Jaehyun is confronted with the concept of death before he understands what that truly means. It’s a hurt that never goes away, pricking beneath the skin like a splinter even after Johnny’s parents take him in and raise him as their own, festering inside.

 

Jaehyun never really knew his parents – his real parents are his and Johnny’s and he wouldn’t change that for the world – but some memories linger in the mind, like the bright burning blaze of his house, smoke billowing from the roof into a starless black night. It’s the reason he and Johnny take up hunting, determined to make sure that no more families are ripped apart by the evil that plagues the world, unseen by the majority of Seoul. It’s the reason he lives in a box of a flat, making a meagre salary to cover the bills, so he can go out and slay them one by one. So he can make Seoul’s streets safe again.

 

Over night Jaehyun comes to associate magic with evil. He has nothing to do with it, won’t even go near the mages Johnny visits for his potions and charmed weapons. It’s why, when the fire comes from his palms, all he can remember is choking on the smog, his grandma’s papery skin against his as he gripped her hand, and the acrid smell of burning. All he remembers is the pain of a family he can’t remember; the black hole of memory.

 

It’s why his skin crawls at the thought of being a natural-born mage, when so many would be thrilled, growing up on Harry Potter and the dream of their Hogwarts letter. To him it’s a weapon of the cruel and the unnatural.

 

But it’s hard to see Taeil as evil. The man is all easy smiles and silly jokes that don’t make sense and gentle hands that make plants bloom before his touch. With him Jaehyun can truly believe magic can be good. It’s a complete 180 on his world view and he doesn’t know how to feel about it but he can sense Johnny’s approval. Or maybe relief. He’s been carrying this fear around so long he’s forgotten it doesn’t have to be a part of him.

 

“If you become a full-blown mage, does that mean you can enter the goblin’s lair next time?” says Johnny, holding his rifle up.

 

Jaehyun squints into the nest, flickering the torch over it to illuminate the dark hole beneath the ground. “I’ll still be providing the light,” he says, bringing a spark of flame to his hand.

 

“Nice,” says Johnny and he grins.

 

Maybe this is how he learns to deal with his trauma. Bit by bit, piece by piece. Relearning what he thought he knew about the world and himself. Maybe it’s only by walking through the fire that Jaehyun can truly heal.

 

*

 

It’s not until one day in the late summer when Jaehyun enters Taeil’s apartment to find him not there that he starts to wonder about the man himself. Without him in it it feels much bigger than it really is and Jaehyun doesn’t quite know what to do with himself, flopping onto the couch to check his phone. It’s only then that it occurs to him in the weeks of schooling that he doesn’t know much about Taeil at all other than that he teaches at the university, which is where he met Doyoung. Jaehyun feels a little guilty. He’s been so focused on himself that he hasn’t bothered to learn about his mentor.

 

Doyoung pops his head around the corner, a pair of goggles resting over his black hair. There are pink lines around his eyes and a strong burning smell lingers from the next room. “Hey, didn’t know you’d be here. Taeil should be back soon. I think he’s bringing Sejeong.”

 

Jaehyun is just about to ask who Sejeong is when the door opens, laughter spilling through before Taeil walks in with a girl. She has a pretty smile and brown hair fanning over her shoulders. The two of them are leaning into one another as if sharing a private joke and Taeil is grinning brightly, his eyes never leaving her. _Ah,_ he thinks, of course someone as vibrant as Taeil has a girlfriend that matches him perfectly. They’re a picture perfect couple, like something from a TV show.

 

Except the girl – Sejeong – bounds over to Doyoung, pushes onto her tiptoes and kisses him on the cheek as Doyoung wraps his arms around her waist. Stunned, Jaehyun turns to look at Taeil who is watching them while biting his lip and suddenly he thinks he understands the gist of the situation. Jaehyun is nothing if not a helper. He approaches Taeil and grabs his wrist. “Come on, hyung, it’s such a nice day. We should practice outside.”

 

Taeil still looks a little dazed as he all but shoves the man out the door and down to the open sunlit streets of Seoul. He glances at Jaehyun contemplatively but Jaehyun keeps his expression neutral and he simply smiles, countenance brightening so quickly its like his melancholy was never there at all.

 

“What would you like to practice today?” says Taeil.

 

Jaehyun shakes his head. “No practice. You look tired, hyung,” he says and laughs when Taeil swats at him in mock affront. “Let’s get some ice cream. My treat.”

 

At this time in the late afternoon the streets are busy with people, a vibrant mix of students, commuters, and tourists, a hum of chatter filling the space where silence should be as they walk. Market stalls have been set up along the store fronts, a mixture of spices and sweet smells hitting his nostrils. Finally he spots an ice cream stand and leads Taeil over to it, pulling out his wallet. “What do you want?

 

“I think there’s something wrong here if the dongsaeng is buying his hyung an ice cream.”

 

Jaehyun just smiles and orders them both their choices, passing Taeil’s over to him. Taeil looks at him for a long beat, the masses a blur of colour behind him, and then he says, “Thank you.”

 

Not good with feelings, Jaehyun averts his gaze and tries a bite. “No worries.”

 

They wander for a while, soaking in the atmosphere unique to Seoul. Jaehyun likes her best like this, washed gold with the setting sun, cleansed of the evil that hides in the dark. In the golden hour Taeil’s skin shines like honey, his whole form bathed in soft light that makes him glow. He skips along, pausing by an overhanging plant from someone’s balcony, shrivelled and dry. With a simple touch of his fingertips the plant surges back to life, brown skin shedding to reveal a bright green shoot beneath. Taeil breathes in its fragrance with a sigh, the tiny dangling earring in his ear winking in the light.

 

For a moment Jaehyun is struck with envy that Taeil is a creature of life, like the sun itself, when he is a creature of death and destruction, as black as the night that killed his parents. But he shakes himself of it and the moment quickly passes. Jaehyun doesn’t like to dwell. No good ever comes of it. Besides, it would be hard to begrudge Taeil anything when he’s so genuine. And he’s made it clear to him that Jaehyun can do good with his magic, too.

 

“Thanks for this,” Taeil says as they near his apartment. “I think I needed some air. Grading papers has been driving me stir crazy.”

 

“Yeah, I think I’ve been getting myself to wound up about this magic thing. Sometimes it’s nice to take a break.”

 

Taeil catches his wince as he triggers his bruised ankle from the fight with an evil spirit that had possessed his neighbour’s dog and cocks his head curiously. “What’s it like being a hunter? Isn’t it dangerous?”

 

“Sometimes. But it’s just something I need to do. It’s something in me, a bit like the fire, I suppose.”

 

“It’s very admirable,” says Taeil, smiling. “It can’t be all that rewarding if people don’t know the work you’re doing.”

 

Jaehyun feels himself flush and doesn’t know what to do with it. Praise from Taeil feels like something bigger; something more. Like maybe he’s genuinely earned it. “Ah, it’s not that much. Really.”

 

But for the rest of their outing he finds himself grinning, content to simply be in Taeil’s company.

 

*

 

The next hunt he hits a demon with a blast of fire, knocking it off Johnny who quickly rolls over and shoots it dead. Gasping, Johnny flops onto his back and lolls his head back. “Nice moves. You’re getting good at that.”

 

Jaehyun doesn’t say how he’d been so terrified he thought his heart might burst from his chest. That he’d only attempted it to save his best friend’s life. Holding out a hand to help Johnny up, he keeps his silence, relieved they’re both okay.

 

Johnny claps him on the shoulder. “I want to come see you train. Taeil says you’re doing really well.”

 

“Taeil’s nice like that.”

 

“He’s also honest.” Johnny meets his gaze, unwavering.

 

Jaehyun rolls his eyes, awkward with the praise. “Thanks, hyung.”

 

“We’ve got to have each other’s backs, yeah?”

 

Jaehyun just bumps his shoulder into his. It’s the only truth he’s ever known. But his reality is changing, and Taeil is helping him see that maybe he hasn’t always had the full picture. That maybe being a mage doesn’t equate to the all consuming evil he had always imagined before. That maybe there is good there, too.

 

*

 

Training with Taeil starts to get a little better. It might be that he’s coming to terms with his power in his own way but now he’s able to control the ball of fire in his hands and direct it towards things. He still struggles with extinguishing it but Taeil promises it will come with time. Thrilled with how long he’s held the ball of fire between his palms this time and not burned his skin, he holds it up for Taeil and Doyoung to see.

 

“Look! I’m actually controlling it.” He makes the flames swirl in a circle, mesmerised by the patterns and the way the fire dances before his eyes. He’s so consumed in his task he doesn’t hear the door open, only breaking concentration when he hears a familiar, “Whoa!”

 

Jaehyun panics, the ball of fire puttering out into a cloud of smoke that has him coughing and wheezing, eyes watering. He fans it away, “Johnny?”

 

Doyoung snorts. “So much for controlling it.”

 

Johnny grins sheepishly and waves. “Hey, sorry, man. I just wanted to check in and see how you were getting on.” He turns to Taeil and holds out a hand so they can bump chests. “It’s been too long. How are you doing? You better not be holing yourself away in that office of yours.”

 

Taeil laughs softly. He pushes thin framed glasses up his nose, making him look more like the lecturer he is despite his young age. “You know how it is. I have enough papers stacked up to fill the library at this point and somehow I never get through them. I have a pair of young hoodlums that are quite the handful, too.”

 

“Who are you calling a hoodlum?” says Doyoung, crossing his arms. “I’ll have you know I am a gentleman of excellent repute.”

 

“We had to evacuate the entire floor the last time you made a truth charm,” Jaehyun points out to Doyoung’s sharp-eyed consternation. He sticks his tongue out.

 

Taeil laughs at their antics. He looks like he’s about to speak when Johnny nudges him aside, whispering something Jaehyun can’t make out. The next thing he knows Johnny and Taeil are moving upstairs, rubbing shoulders comfortably as they begin to reminisce about their college days. Doyoung flops dramatically onto the couch and calls Sejeong.

 

After they leave Jaehyun tries to go back to practising but he can’t concentrate, his mind looping like a broken tape on the soft look on Johnny’s face and the way the two of them shared each other’s space so comfortably. He summons fire to his hand without thinking, not controlling the heat and the extent of the flame with his mind, so preoccupied that he loses control and feels a white hot pain shoot up his fingers. With a yelp he smashes out the flame and examines his burned flesh with a sigh.

 

He’s starting to think this thing with Taeil might be starting to become a bit of a problem. He’s always been protective of his friends and he’s seen the way he was so affected by Sejeong and Doyoung. Could it be that he and Johnny had something back in college? Jaehyun’s not sure why it sits beneath his skin, an itch begging to be scratched. He tries to tell himself he just doesn’t like seeing Taeil get hurt, even though he knows Johnny isn’t that type.

 

Jaehyun is running his finger under the cold tap when Taeil and Johnny return, Taeil immediately running up to him. “Did you burn yourself again?” he says with the fondness of a put-upon parent. Jaehyun’s not sure how he feels about the babying but he’s happy to let Taeil fuss over him, rubbing ointment on the wound and bandaging him down.

 

Johnny rubs his neck. “Here I thought I was coming to support you but I think I’ve only distracted you.”

 

“Nonsense, hyung, I appreciate it,” he says. “Both of you. I know I haven’t been the easiest to deal with lately.”

 

Johnny and Taeil share a look. “You’ve been doing well,” says Taeil.

 

Johnny nods, patting him on the arm. “Proud of you, man.”

 

Jaehyun can’t handle their combined affection and makes up an excuse to leave, overwhelmed by any kind of display of emotion. He’s never been good with it. Call it a flaw and he’ll accept it. He’s working on it but there’s only so much a guy can do at one time and the magic is taking up most of his energy.

 

After disentangling himself from Taeil Johnny catches up with him on the stairs and they take the metro back to their flat, the subway car rattling and jostling him in a way that’s comfortable in its familiarity. Curious, he eyes Johnny’s drooping lids, his head leaning back against the seat. He looks tired but Jaehyun’s not sure what would be making him wearier than normal.

 

“What did you and Taeil talk about?”

 

“Oh, just simple hunter stuff.” At Jaehyun’s worried look he waves him away. “It’s nothing. Just asking about some potions and stuff.”

 

“Ah,” he says, eyes falling to his hands playing with the holes in his jeans. “You guys seem close.”

 

“Yeah, we were good friends in university. He’s a funny guy when you get to know him. Wicked sense of humour.”

 

The car stops and a girl in an oversized hoodie gets on, the automated voice reading out the station. “Did you guys ever… you know? Date?”

 

Johnny’s brows shoot to his hairline. “Uh, no. I mean we nearly, but no, it just never worked out that way. Why are you asking?”

 

“I just didn’t realise how well you knew each other.”

 

Johnny’s dark eyes rake over him, making him feel exposed. Then his eyes widen and he shakes his head. “Oh no. Nuh uh. Don’t even go there.”

 

“Go where?” At Johnny’s look he protests, “What? No, I just –” was concerned about Taeil’s love life. His stomach swoops at the thought but he’s not in the position to analyse the feeling.

 

“You wouldn’t work, trust me.”

 

Now he’s offended. “Why not? I’m over the magic thing. I don’t mind that anymore.”

 

“Not interested, huh?” Johnny says with a knowing smirk. “Listen, my man, you know I love you but you’re a bit of a player and Taeil’s not that kind of guy. I know you. Whatever torch you’ve got for him will fade quick enough.”

 

Johnny’s not wrong. Jaehyun likes sex; he doesn’t see any reason to deny himself a little fun. What he’s always struggled with is forging deeper connections. It’s never really bothered him – if he gets to really like someone he’s not going to throw a relationship away just because he has some commitment issues – it’s just never really panned out for him. But Taeil is different. Contrary to his name, Taeil is like the sun, nourishing and warm and full of life. He makes the flowers bloom and rainbows appear when he sings. Quite literally.

 

“It’s not what you’re thinking. Honestly.”

 

Johnny gives him another once over but he lets it drop, sinking back into his seat before dozing off until they get to their stop. Jaehyun sits in contemplative silence, pondering.

 

*

 

Once Johnny has brought up the idea, he can’t stop thinking about it. Not romantically, per se, but just how quickly he has become attached to him; to his stupid jokes and his humming as he makes tea. It’s like one day Taeil just crept up on him, worming his way into Jaehyun’s life before he could even stop to realise what was happening. It’s only so strange because he doesn’t trust easily, rarely letting people past the barriers he throws up behind easy smiles and a carefree attitude.

 

Nine times out of ten that is the real Jung Jaehyun. He’s young, confident, carefree – just a man in the prime of his youth enjoying the simple pleasures life has to offer. He enjoys his job well enough at the bar meeting all kinds of unusual patrons, and while dangerous, hunting he finds ultimately rewarding. If he has a thrill seeking streak a mile wide, well, the only one privy to it is Johnny and he’s nearly as bad. He has friends, and family, and all that he really feels he could ask for in life.

 

But the last slice of him is saved for the bad times, when he’s moody and sullen, plagued by nightmares that leave him so exhausted he feels like he’s sleepwalking. Nights where all he can do is choke down smoke, gasping awake in the wee hours to shaking hands and the smell of burning like a ghost haunting his room. Since his newly discovered powers it’s getting worse, the dreams more frequent, the sleeplessness more apparent in his dark circles and unkempt appearance.

 

One night he gets so bad that he realises he has real cause for panic because there is genuine smoke in his room. Only after he wrestles his heart into working order does he realise it’s steaming from his own hands. It’s not bad enough that he has to wake Johnny so he leaves the window open, throws on some clothes and bursts out into the cool night, desperate for the soothing balm that is Seoul in the scant few hours where she quietens down; hours that don’t quite feel real, where he walks the streets like the desolate survivor of an apocalypse. It’s not true, of course. There are places in the heart of the city that never sleep but his feet take him away from her pulsing heartbeat, towards a quieter, more residential part of town. Before he knows it he has walked all the way to Taeil’s flat and he blinks awake outside of his door in a daze, convinced he must have sleepwalked the whole way.

 

Jaehyun doesn’t even know what time it is, the buzz of insomnia in the heavy silence of the streets making him feel strangely disengaged from reality, and his hand has already risen to knock before he realises that it might be a bad idea. But the action has taken course and he can’t draw it back, can only await the verdict of his judgement with baited breath.

 

“Jaehyun?” mumbles Taeil, blinking sleepily from behind the door. Light spills past him into the corridor, carving up the darkness and outlining his rumpled form in a mustard yellow.

 

His throat is scratchy, scraping out the words. “Sorry, hyung, I shouldn’t have come. I’ll just –” he makes to leave but a hand latches onto his arm and drags him inside. As tired as he is he gives easily, stumbling towards the couch that Taeil deposits him into.

 

“Sit,” he says, still looking tired, “I’ll make tea.”

 

Jaehyun fidgets on the edge of the couch as Taeil potters about in the kitchen, kettle boiling, and then the smell of camomile is wafting through the apartment instead of the usual peppermint. Two mugs are placed on the coffee table before them as Taeil sits in the armchair opposite, folding his hands on his lap. Once more Jaehyun is reminded of a shrink. It’s unnerving and soothing all at once so he takes a sip of hot tea to do something and winces as he burns his tongue.

 

“It’s hot,” says Taeil.

 

“Yeah,” he agrees.

 

“So what’s going on? Why are you up at, what, three in the morning?”

 

“I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have woken you up like this.” Taeil waves him off. Dark eyes drill into him, pinning him to the spot.

 

“I, uh, had a bad dream. I needed air. I don’t really know how I ended up here, sorry.” Flushing, he covers his stuttering with gulping down his tea.

 

Taeil doesn’t complain, doesn’t judge. “Does this happen often?” he says, tilting his head curiously.

 

“No. Just every now and then.”

 

They fall into silence and Taeil lets him, content to curl up on the couch with his mug wrapped in both hands. It’s nice not to be pressed – as much as he loves Johnny he would try to make him talk because he knows. But it’s easier with Taeil, maybe because they’re only still getting to know one another. He doesn’t know everything about Jaehyun’s past and there’s something freeing about the blank slate. Even if the way Taeil looks at him, gentle and imploring, make him wants to scribble all over it.

 

“My parents died in a fire.”

 

“I’m sorry to hear that, Jaehyun,” Taeil says sincerely, straightening up on the couch. “It must be hard for you to bear this power now.”

 

Jaehyun feels his throat close over and he nods. “It hasn’t been easy,” he says with a strained laugh. “It’s why I became a hunter, you know? It wasn’t a natural fire.”

 

Mercifully, Taeil doesn’t say much more. He simply nods and listens as Jaehyun tells him the story, voice gravelly in the early hours of the morning. It spills out of him like the barriers have come crashing down and he can’t stop it; like in this time between night and day the lines don’t matter and he’s letting go of all the rules he’s set for himself. He talks and talks and talks more than he’s ever talked before. Until his voice is straining and the sun is peeking through the curtains, reminding him that outside of Taeil’s little flat reality still exists.

 

After he’s completely drained himself dry he sits back, a yawn bubbling up from his chest and his eyes drooping together. Taeil smiles softly. “You must be tired. Why don’t you crash here and try to get some sleep?”

 

Jaehyun shakes his head. “I’ve already imposed enough.”

 

“You’re not an imposition, Jaehyun.” Taeil leaves to fetch him a blanket and a pillow. “I’m very impressed with your progress. It’s not easy to start at your age and especially when you’ve been through so much.”

 

When Taeil potters around, coming through from his bedroom in a shirt and tie, Jaehyun sits up. “Aren’t you going back to bed?”

 

The toaster dings. “I have a class in an hour. You have a spare key, right? Get some sleep. That’s an order,” he says, pointing with a serious look in his eyes. “Night.” The door clicks, leaving him alone.

 

He’s riddled with guilt for keeping Taeil up most of the night but too tired to do anything other than crash down onto the couch, eyelids heavy. The comforting scent of fresh linen helps push him over the edge to into slumber. It’s a testament to how tired he is that he doesn’t dream, completely knocked out for the rest of the morning.

 

When he awakens again his mouth is dry and he’s struck dumb by the unfamiliar surroundings until he sees Taeil’s mug on the coffee table and remembers. A warmth fills him at the memory. He gets up, groggy and a little stiff from the couch, but he feels lighter than he’s felt for a long time. It’s as if a weight has been lifted from him, a sense of catharsis leaving him dizzy with relief. It’s the best sleep he’s had in a long time and he feels ready to face the day again.

 

Jaehyun relishes the walk home, a bright sunny day that draws out his contented mood. He tries to sneak into his room, to no avail. Johnny has his feet up on their rattly old coffee table, laptop nestled on his thighs, but he looks up as soon as Jaehyun walks in and his cheeks flush like he’s still in high school doing the walk of shame in yesterday’s clothes.

 

Johnny raises his brows and whistles. “Where you been, buddy?”

 

“At Taeil’s.”

 

Johnny’s mouth falls open and Jaehyun thinks he sees something like concern flash over his eyes. He raises his palms. “Not like that! I just slept there. Like literally slept.”

 

Johnny sets down his laptop. “Nightmares again?”

 

“I’m fine, hyung.”

 

“Yeah, that’s what you always say.” But Johnny agrees to drop this subject. He’s been looking so tired lately Jaehyun thinks he should be worried about him. “Been doing some research into this. Want to come with and take a look?”

 

Jaehyun looks him in the eye with a smile. “When do I ever say no to that?”

 

“Get your gear, then. Let’s get going.”

 

*

 

As autumn creeps in and the first chill sets in, Jaehyun wraps up on his way to Taeil’s flat. He’s nearly there when he gets a call, heart picking up when he sees who’s calling. It’s becoming a bit of a Situation but he doesn’t know what to do about it. He’s never really had someone who treats him so well but is clearly uninterested, like he’s a sweet little brother that needs looking after. With all the mistakes he’s made its only inevitable that Taeil would see him this way but trying to turn his image around shouldn’t be this hard. He’s Jung Jaehyun, badass hunter, regular flirt at the bar, voted most handsome in high school, with killer dimples and a great body. He’s never been in the situation of liking someone who doesn’t like him back. Someone who moves in entirely different circles than his usual crowd, cerebral and responsible and entirely unlike the party boys that make up his friend circle.

 

So he swipes to answer, “Hey, what’s up?” as casually as he can.

 

The answer on the other side is a little breathless. “Hey, I’m going to run late. I need to cover for one of the lecturers who is sick. We might need to cancel for today if you’ve got a shift later.”

 

Disappointment crashes over him but he pushes it aside, an idea popping into his head. “My shift’s not until tonight. How about I meet you at the university? We could get coffee?” If it sounds a bit like a date, well, that might be what he’s aiming for.

 

There’s muffled voices and then he says, “Are you sure you don’t mind? I don’t want to put you out. It’s going to be pretty dull for you.”

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

“Alright, see you then.” He signs off with the building and room, leaving Jaehyun feeling victorious even if it’s not a date. Not really.

 

As he approaches the university nerves start to set in. He’s never really been the scholarly type and he can’t help but wonder if that’s obvious as he wanders through the campus, all freshly mowed lawns and old buildings, endless hordes of students milling around in the sunshine. What a world it must be, he thinks, to be unaware of the dangers lurking out in the real world. Here, with the sun gleaming through the leaves on the trees and the scent of coffee a seemingly permanent perfume, he feels like he’s walked into a sanctuary; like it exists in its own bubble outside of reality.

 

Finally, he finds the building he’s looking for and trudges up three flights of stairs to a set of double doors. Before he can stop to think why it might be a bad idea, he enters into the lecture hall, the bang of the swinging doors alerting all to the student seemingly – he checks his watch – twenty minutes late for a lecture. Sheepishly, he grins at a startled Taeil who carries on smoothly and drops into a seat next to a group of girls who all fire him appreciative glances. Clearly his stupidity was the perfect ruse; he seems the model student now.

 

And although he knows very little of what Taeil speaks about, he finds himself quickly absorbed in the cadence of his voice, and the passion with which he speaks, hands moving around his face as he gets more and more into the lecture. The smile finds his lips before he can think about it, charmed by Taeil’s vibrancy. There’s just something about him. Here he doesn’t need to take notes, so he can just watch him in his natural environment, and the time passes so quickly he’s surprised when Taeil wraps it up with an assignment, the students around him groaning.

 

As they all get up to leave he remains where he is until the last few stragglers pass by, leaving him and another two students who move to the front to ask questions. Jaehyun hovers behind them, pleased when Taeil’s gaze briefly flickers to him before he answers them. When the two girls turn to leave, they both pause to stare at him curiously and he smiles, pleased to know that, no, his old charm has not faded, it just seems like Taeil is immune to him.

 

“Thanks for waiting,” Taeil says, gathering papers into his satchel. “I hope I didn’t bore you too much.”

 

“Not at all. It was pretty interesting.”

 

Taeil laughs, shaking his head. “Mm, I don’t think so. Come on, I’ll treat you to coffee since you waited for me.”

 

Jaehyun pretends his heart doesn’t pick up at that. He trails along at Taeil’s side towards a coffee shop on campus, helping him to carry his various books. Students pause to give them second glances and he wonders what they look like as they chat about his progress – if they look like teacher and student, or if they look like something more. There must be so many students with crushes on their handsome young professor. Maybe he looks like just another of them, smitten by his charm.

 

“You’re certainly popular with the ladies,” says Taeil as he carries back their drinks from the counter to a table sequestered in the corner by the window.

 

Jaehyun blinks, looking around. “What? No. They’re obviously checking out their way-too-young-to-be-teaching professor.” Is this flirting? With anyone else he’d have no doubt but with Taeil it’s hard to tell.

 

Taeil’s burst of laughter is delightful, spreading across his lips until it lights up his whole face. “I can tell you’re Johnny’s protege.”

 

He quashes the flicker of jealousy at that. “Ah, yeah, hyung can be quite the flirt.”

 

They peter out into a bout of weighted silence. Taeil sips his coffee, his glasses steaming up. “I was hoping I could get your help with something, actually.”

 

“Of course. What do you need?”

 

Brows raised, Taeil cocks his head. “I haven’t even told you what it is.”

 

“I kind of owe you a few dozen favours by now anyway.”

 

Taeil waves him off. “I just have a friend who needs help with a slight supernatural problem.”

 

Jaehyun sits up. “Yeah? What’s the deal.”

 

Taeil grimaces and that’s the only explanation he gets.

 

*

 

That night he waits in a small play park outside of an apartment complex, rubbing his hands together as his breath steams out past his head. It’s getting cold and he’s not really dressed for the occasion but he doesn’t have time to run back home so he’s going to have to suck it up. He promised Taeil, after all.

 

“Hey, you found it,” exclaims Taeil, appearing behind him.

 

Jaehyun can’t help the smile that blooms at his appearance, widening when Taeil hands him a piping hot coffee. “Thanks,” he says, clutching it in his frozen hands.

 

“The least I could do.”

 

“So why are we here?”

 

Not that spending time with Taeil isn’t enough, his eyes shining brightly under the street lights, hair falling across his forehead no matter how many times he tries to sweep it back. Jaehyun wants to push it back for him but he restrains himself. He’s not sure where they stand and he doesn’t want to jeopardise things. He really doesn’t have experience with this; with wanting more than a quick fuck and a good time. It leaves him shifting his weight from foot to foot, trying not to stare as Taeil drops into a swing and begins to kick his feet until he’s soaring into the air.

 

“We’re waiting for someone.”

 

For a while they fall quiet, the soft creaking of the swings and the distant hum of traffic a pleasant white noise as they simply share one another’s company. Jaehyun is about to speak – to spew some nonsense about anything just to hear Taeil laugh – when the sound of a twig snapping draws his attention not towards the street but to the trees behind them. A shadowy figure steps into the pool of orange street light and Jaehyun immediately grabs his weapon.

 

For this man is clearly not human, staring at them both with such an unnatural stillness he could never even hope to even pretend. But before he can act, Taeil jumps off the swing and moves past him. “Sicheng!” he exclaims, delighted. He opens his arms to hug the figure but the man easily sidesteps him. Jaehyun is instantly jealous and resentful all at once.

 

“Has he shown up yet?” the man says, so quietly he almost misses it. He steps further into the light and Jaehyun nearly gasps, stunned by just how fine this Sicheng’s features are, like something out of a classical painting. He’s not just pretty, he’s kind of vaguely ethereal. It takes him a moment to realise he’s being charmed and he has to shake himself out of it. Chinese folklore isn’t his forte, but he recognises the supernatural when it’s before him.

 

“Sicheng, this is Jaehyun. He’s a hunter.”

 

Sicheng’s eyes narrow. “Is he now?”

 

Jaehyun mirrors his aggressive stance. “What are you?”

 

“You’re the hunter. You tell me?”

 

Taeil looks between him, frowning in confusion. He looks like he’s about to speak when the trees rustle and then a pair of glowing eyes shine in the darkness, startling the three of them. Jaehyun steps in front of them, drawing his gun. “Who’s there?”

 

“It’s him,” says Sicheng, as if that’s supposed to mean anything to him.

 

“Come out,” calls Jaehyun.

 

There’s another solid minute of rustling trees before the figure appears. The first thing that immediately becomes apparent is the ears peaking out from his hair and the furry tail twitching at his side. The ceremonial dress is instantly recogniseable; not the Korean hanbok but the Japanese kimono. His face is obscured by a mask, eerie in the street lights.

 

“A youkai,” he breathes.

 

“Take off the mask,” snaps Sicheng, pushing past Jaehyun, but not so far as to be ahead of him. Instead he clutches at his shoulder, so tight that his claw-like nails dig into his flesh beneath his coat.

 

The youkai freezes, ears flicking.

 

“Take it off, or I’m going to tear you limb from limb.”

 

Jaehyun keeps his gun pointed at the creature’s face as he slowly raises his hand and pries off the mask. Behind it is the face of a young man, handsome, with cold eyes that bore into them from across the concrete of the play park. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I am following the jiangshi.”

 

Sicheng scoffs. “Not quite.”

 

“You are not human,” says the youkai, cocking his head.

 

Jaehyun spares a glance for Taeil, who watches the scene with wide eyes. He is reluctant to let down his guard but he senses that there is no need for violence here. Whatever creatures they may be, neither of them carry a malicious energy with them. Rather, he thinks, they are sizing up this territory as theirs and are unhappy that they are being forced to share. Still, it would do to remain wary.

 

“I am not an evil spirit,” says Sicheng. “How do I know you are not?”

 

The tail swishes behind the man. “I am a kitsune. This is my territory. I protect the people of this district.”

 

Sicheng laughs. “Well, I just moved here. You can go home to Japan.”

 

“I will not leave.”

 

It happens too fast for Jaehyun’s reflexes, the way they lunge at one another. The youkai calls a ball of sparking electricity to his palm at the same time that Sicheng leaps out of its strike path, towards the fox. Before his brain can catch up to his body, Jaehyun is leaping, throwing his weight atop Taeil so that they both topple to the ground in a heap of limbs. He breathes a sigh of relief when he realises they are both unharmed, summoning a ball of flame for light to check Taeil’s face for scrapes. Somewhere above him the sky flashes with lightning, briefly blinding the two of them.

 

Taeil rubs his head and groans, eyes blinking before they focus on him, wide and dark. The flames reflect in their surface and Jaehyun is captivated by their beauty. “Hey, you’re controlling that well.”

 

Jaehyun looks at his hand. “Huh.” The surprise at how easy it comes is dampened by how every sense is alive at being so close to Taeil, close enough they’re nearly sharing breath. He can see every slope and line of his face, following the way the fire makes his skin glow. It’s not the fire that warms him, heat flooding to his face as he pushes upwards, allowing Taeil to sit up.

 

“Thanks for saving me,” Taeil says, rubbing his head with a wince. “I think.”

 

“You alright?”

 

He nods. “Do you think they’ll be okay?” Far off in the distance lightning sparks and flashes again, followed by muffled bangs and crashes.

 

Jaehyun shrugs. “They’re not evil, which is all I really care about.” He stands and helps tug Taeil to his feet, hand lingering a little longer than necessary on their interlinked fingers. “How did you meet him, anyway?”

 

“Sicheng came to me for a charm to mask his presence. I think he wanted to sneak up on the youkai.”

 

The wind picks up, a sharp gust that has him shivering. Taeil’s hair gets ruffled and before he can stop himself Jaehyun reaches out to sweep it off his forehead, tenderly brushing a thumb over his temple. “You should be more cautious around strangers,” he says gruffly. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

 

Taeil stares at him, caught like a deer in the headlights. Jaehyun withdraws his hand and covers his embarrassment with a cough, suddenly unsure of what to do with it, letting it hang limp at his side.

 

“Uh, I should probably head home now, hyung.” His voice comes out raspier than he intends.

 

“Yeah,” says Taeil, still just standing there. “Me too.”

 

And just like that, they part ways for the night.

 

*

 

Things don’t really change after that. Jaehyun keeps going to Taeil’s to train. Taeil is still warm, still funny, still telling his terrible jokes that make Jaehyun fall deeper and deeper. But there’s a sinking feeling deep in his gut. Because Taeil doesn’t see him that way. He’s just another student to Taeil, too immature, too reckless. He must know now, after his dumb move in the play park, but he’s too kind to say anything, and he’s grateful that nothing is weird between them, but it still hurts.

 

“Johnny, Johnny, Johnny I fucked up,” he says one evening, after a frustrating lesson on summoning just enough heat to make plants grow. He incinerated so many he promised to buy Taeil some more.

 

“What’s going on?” Johnny swivels on the couch to stare at him.

 

Jaehyun sinks down, leaning his head back with a sigh, squeezing his eyes shut and remembering what he did. “I think I’m in love with him, you know?” He shakes his head. “Yeah, I’m in love.”

 

Johnny’s expression shifts from mocking to stunned to resigned in the span of seconds. He pats Jaehyun’s shoulder. “I never thought I’d see the day. Here lies the body of my old friend, Jung Jaehyun. We knew him well.”

 

He glares at his friend. “This isn’t funny!”

 

“It is a little.” Johnny sighs and wraps an arm around his shoulders. “Maybe you should tell him how you feel?”

 

“No, I’m sure he already knows and he doesn’t feel the same.”

 

“Are you sure? I don’t know, Taeil is kind of clueless about these things.”

 

“He’s not dumb. He’s a professor for god’s sake!”

 

“Yeah but he’s stupid with the emotional stuff. Trust me on this.”

 

But Jaehyun shakes him off. There’s a part of him too afraid to ruin what they have, where he can drop into Taeil’s flat whenever he likes as if he belongs there. Where he can meet him after class and they can chat for hours over coffee and tea. Where he can simply be in Taeil’s life, and Taeil in his. It’s enough for him.

 

It’s enough because it has to be. Because he’s too afraid to lose it all if he reaches for more.

 

*

 

“You know,” Taeil muses one day from the rooftop, bright red watering can sprinkling water across the blooming flowers swaying in the breeze, “I think you’ve got a good handle on your abilities now. We probably don’t need to do this anymore.”

 

Jaehyun freezes. He’s pretty sure he hears the sound of his heart shattering inside his chest and it takes him a moment to summon a smile when Taeil’s eyes flicker up to him. Behind him, Doyoung’s head pops up from his lawn chair, sprawled out in the sun despite the fact that it’s winter and absolutely fucking freezing.

 

But not as cold as his heart, in those seconds or minutes or maybe years he takes to react. “Uh, I don’t know. I don’t feel like I’m ready for that yet, hyung.”

 

Taeil’s answering smile is soft. Too soft, all dewy eyed and rosy cheeked in the mid winter chill, a scarf wrapped around his ears and mouth. “You’re more capable than you know.”

 

Jaehyun’s mouth opens. Then shuts. Then opens again.

 

Taeil checks his watch. “Ah, I have a class to get to! You two will need to finish on the plants for me!” he says, rushing off down the stairs. His phone still lies on the table next to Doyoung and he moves to take it to him when two big, judging eyes stare at him from over the back of the blue-and-white striped chair.

 

“That,” he says, pulling down his furry hat, “was utterly tragic.”

 

“Shut up,” he says, kicking the metal leg of his chair.

 

Doyoung squawks, gripping it tight. “I’m just saying. You should just tell him about your massive boner for him. He’s as stupid for you as you are for him.”

 

“He doesn’t see me that way.”

 

“Maybe because you haven’t given him the opportunity.”

 

Jaehyun can’t believe he’s being lectured by a guy that’s sunbathing in winter while wearing a hat made of fur and glasses purely for the aesthetic. “It doesn’t matter.”

 

“So you don’t like him then? You’re just going to stop coming around? Go back to being strangers? Maybe hear Johnny mention him every now and then?”

 

Something cold sinks into his gut. Sagging, he exhales all of the tension out of him with a sigh and leans against the railing, mindful of Taeil’s creeping plants, far too lively for winter. “I like him. I like him more than I’ve ever liked anyone, you know? His stupid dad jokes and the way he’s always singing the only line in a song he knows over and over. The way he always believes I can do this even when I don’t. When he smiles and it’s like the sun has come out. Or when we just spend hours talking about music, no magic involved. It’s nice, just to hear him talk about the things he likes. I’ve never felt like that about anyone before.”

 

Doyoung whistles.

 

Jaehyun turns and feels the bottom fall out of his stomach. Standing by the door, bathed in pale winter sunshine, stands Taeil. His eyes are wide, his mouth hanging open. For the first time since he’s known him, Taeil is speechless.

 

There’s nothing else he can do. Jaehyun can’t bare the way the air has been sucked from the room, or the way Doyoung hovers in the background, witness to the most excruciating moment of his life. He runs past Taeil and out the door, runs and runs and runs until his mind is too exhausted to keep playing the same scene out on a loop.

 

All these warnings Johnny had about him breaking Taeil’s heart, when really it turns out to be the other way around.

 

*

 

Jaehyun jumps when there’s a knock at the door. Johnny glances at him and then sighs, dragging himself off the sofa to get it. “I don’t know why you’re so jumpy lately,” he says, eyeing the corpse sprawled across the dining table they never eat off of.

 

“Oh, hey,” he hears Johnny say. “Yeah, he’s in. I’ll just go and give you guys some space.”

 

It’s Taeil.

 

Jaehyun freezes, wiping his hands of animal guts with a cloth and wincing. There’s some kind of demonic spawn site beneath a local high school and he’s been trying to work out what the hell the things actually are. “Uh, I’d offer you tea but I’m not sure we have any,” he says, scratching his face out of nerves and accidentally smearing blood across his cheek.

 

Taeil smiles and plants himself on the sofa, a little startled by how it tries to swallow him up the way it does everyone. His dark hair is mussed and his tie is hanging askew. “That’s okay, I’m not here for tea.”

 

“Uh, right.”

 

“I’m here for you.”

 

He’s pretty sure they both hear the way he sucks in a breath, glancing at his hands. It’s only footsteps on the floor and shiny shoes in his vision that make him look up, into Taeil’s warm brown eyes. “What you said before –”

 

“Look, just ignore it. It’s just a stupid crush. All kids get them on their teachers. It’s just the emotions, because you helped me and –”

 

“I like you, Jaehyun.”

 

He freezes, mouth gaping.

 

“I mean, I’m not quite where you’re at yet.” Taeil glances downwards, rubs his neck, and laughs. Jaehyun wants to kiss him, desperately. “But I’d like it if you waited for me to get there?”

 

The smile is stretching across his face before he can stop it. “How about you wait for me at dinner on Friday?”

 

Taeil’s smile blooms into a grin. “Dinner sounds great.”

 

*

 

Jaehyun likes sneaking into Taeil’s lectures five minutes before they finish, to catch him in the throes of a passionate speech on elemental magic. A lot of the students recognise him now and barely glance his way, but he sees a few girls still turn their heads and giggle. They must wonder, at the man who tends to wander in just as class is finishing. But he’s too busy watching Taeil wrap up, pushing up his round glasses and issuing out assignments that make everyone around him groan.

 

He waits until most of the students have trundled out before he saunters to the front, grin slipping out. “Such a heartless teacher, issuing so much homework.”

 

Taeil’s dark eyes soften when they land on him. “You didn’t have to come all this way for me.”

 

“I like it,” he replies, stepping into Taeil’s space and using his height to corner him against the desk in the centre of the room. “They need to know you’re a taken man.”

 

Taeil huffs, breath warm on his lips. “You’re under some strange assumption that all my students are in love with me.”

 

Jaehyun wraps a hand around his neck and pulls him in, a soft peck that turns heated quickly, bodies pressed together. “Of course they are,” he whispers into his ear as he pulls back, delighting when it flushes red, “just look at you.”

 

A girl behind them coughs and Taeil shoves him away, adjusting his glasses. He looks adorably dishevelled. “Go and wait outside, you pervert!”

 

Jaehyun laughs on his way out, slipping out into a chilly but clear day. It’s spring now and the flowers are blooming even without Taeil’s helping hand. But, just like Jaehyun, even if they do not need him any longer, they still flourish in his presence, revealing their bold and brilliant colours as he strolls towards him from the lecture hall. Feeling brave, Jaehyun slips his hand into his and is rewarded with a blinding smile, brighter than the flowers, or the sun itself.

 

“You’re so reckless,” scolds Taeil.

 

Jaehyun squeezes his hand. “But you love it, old man.”

 

“Doesn’t that make you the perverted one, falling for his teacher?”

 

“Only if you’ll let me call you ‘sir’ when I take your tie off with my teeth tonight.”

 

Taeil flushes, cheeks rosy. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

 

“No? How about I prove you wrong?”

 

Because, in the end, there’s nothing Jaehyun appreciates more than a challenge. And he’ll do anything to hear Taeil’s laughter, ringing out clear and bright like music to his ears.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I tried to read this over but honestly but my eyes are glazing over so apologies in advance for typos and the like.


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